Requiem For A Vampire Review

• 3rd May 2011

French horror maestro Jean Rollin became famous for his dreamy vampire films in the 70s. Requiem for a Vampire was originally released in 1971 and came hot on the heels of his first two films, both of which centred on vampires. His directorial debut, the highly controversial Le Viol de Vampire, was released during the May 1968 riots. The hostile reception it received resulted in Rollin moving away from directing for a couple of years. His follow up was La Vampire Nue (The Nude Vampire) featured more of the casual nudity that would mark his career.

The film opens with two girls dressed as clowns seemingly running away from something or someone.  The opening action sequence leaves the viewer with little clue as to what is happening. The driver of a car has somehow been killed so the girls burn his body in the car before moving on. They happen upon a gothic castle where they become prisoners to a collection of vampires who are looking to extend their ancient bloodline.

There is so much flower-power hippy nonsense in Requiem that it does, four decades on, play somewhat like a comedy. Although the aimless wandering of loved-up teens looking for the “ultimate trip” is nothing new, the wondrous aspect of Rollin’s Requiem comes in terms of the locations, photography and casual use of nudity and sadism. Shot on location in and around the village of Crêvecoeur, the atmospheric centrepiece of the film, the castle, was rented fully furnished from the Duchess of Roche-Guyon. This opulent castle provides the film with an astonishing level of authenticity with its lush interiors and lavish period furniture. To recreate such a look would have cost a small fortune without a doubt, so renting of the castle proved to be a production masterstroke.  The film is also peppered with delicious scenes of “free-love” and a touch of light, playful sadism. Whilst more acceptable today – and perhaps even expected – in the early 70s such scenes were far more obscure.

Newly released on the Redemption label, this is a total classic of the vampire horror genre. Rollin went on to become one of the premiere directors of Euro-horror with his focus on dream-like visuals. The print is nice and clean which is especially enjoyable given the bold and vibrant colours on display. Fans of the genre should hunt down this film as a great starting point for Rollin and European vampires in general.

Aled Jones